EKTACOLOR(ABOVE)BYJAMESW. HUGHES
Veteran of wartime bombing raids, a Douglas Invader spews chemical retardant on a
small fire in Ochoco National Forest, Oregon. Dyed red for visibility, the slurry quenches
flames and soaks trees and undergrowth in the path of the fire. The 25-year-old plane
267,000 acres along the Oregon coast, destroy
ing more than 13 billion board feet of timber
and raining debris on ships 500 miles at sea.
Fire in 1967 had a powerful ally: severe
drought. Thanks to the Northwest's rich wa
ter resources and elaborate irrigation systems,
farm crops did not suffer unduly. But people
and forests did. Portland, which usually en
joys pleasantly cool summers, experienced 71
consecutive rainless days while sweltering in
temperatures ranging up to 1050 F.
Remarkably enough, considering the thou
sands of men committed to the hard, danger
ous job of suppressing the fires, only three
lives were lost during the season. But by the
112
time the last blaze was under control, the cost
in timber was reckoned in many millions of
dollars. With the forests closed, some mills
shut down, and loggers, truckers, and other
workers faced lean days.
Incalculable damage was done to water
sheds, wildlife habitats, and recreational and
scenic areas. Fishing lodges and dude ranches
suffered from canceled reservations. The
fiercest fires destroyed even the organic mat
ter in the topsoil, and left the land prey to
erosion. Ashy debris rolled down the steep
slopes into streams and lakes, polluting the
haunts of the Northwest's famous steelhead
trout and salmon.